The Casual Vacancy by J.K.Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
My Review:
It has taken me a long time to get around to reading this book - but I finally managed it!

I did start this book with equal parts of excitement and trepidation. I was excited to read something new by Rowling, but I had heard mixed reviews about the book, with some people trying to put me off it completely, but I am so glad I read it.

The big rule to reading this book. Completely separate it from the Harry Potter series. Got that?

Second rule. Don't give up with this book. The first half is very slow, and it did take some effort to get through. This might have been because there were a lot of characters that were introduced. But after the 200 page mark, it was like a little switch had been thrown.

The characters are really what makes this book. It feels like Rowling doesn't write characters, but writes people - if that makes any sense what so ever. The morality of these people was not black and white, everyone was a shade of grey - it felt like I was reading about actual people. There were very few likable characters, although when I found out more about their lives, I found myself growing more sympathetic towards them. I think that the characters show a reflection of ourselves, highlighting the aspects that we don't want to admit we have, yet are there all the same. Sometimes this book seemed too real, there is certainly no escapism in this book, and a great commentary on a part of British society.

The ending was great. It came out of nowhere, and I was fully satisfied with it, and I feel that there could have been no better ending. 

Rating: 4/5